Christmas Stockings

Wes decided that we were not only going to exchanged stocking gifts, but we were going to do so prior to Christmas. This was decided on Monday and we were going to exchange gifts on Wednesday night. I was bit overwhelmed by this stocking exchange gift giving, being that we have never exchanged stocking gifts and I was unsure of the stocking gift expectation. I mean some people ideas of stocking gifts are toothbrushes, while others are Bailey Boxes. (And as a side note, I grew up with toothbrushes in my stockings, not Bailey Boxes or Lexus Keys.)

Anyway, back to the drawing board I went for ideas as to what I was going to stuff in his stocking. That is when I realized there is only one place that could find a fun unique gift Wes would like and that place is Lowes. God Bless Lowes and their employees....that will be for another post of me tromping around and having oh five employees helping me.

Okay, so back to exchanging. I come out to the living room, and my stocking is stuffed with what appears to be oranges (and not Grandpas). Of course now I am all sorts of curious - perhaps its oranges stuffed around a Bailey Box with a Bailey's Diamond......

I know, I know... I am ridiculous....but I appear to have a one track mind lately for sparkles.

We grab our stockings and set to unloading our loot. I am all over mine ... pulling out oranges...nuts...nuts?....candy....and socks. Socks?! What a random collection of ... and then it hits me, and I just started laughing hysterically. I absolutely love the way Wes's mind works. He gave me an "Old Fashioned" Christmas Stocking. Love Love Love it.

My Christmas Stocking - Fabulous.

Now onto Wes's stocking .... hmmm. Well in Wes's stocking, he found an axe. However, he seemed to really get a kick out of it and was completely surprised. I mean who doesn't like getting an axe in their stocking?! We have been building fires and well one cannot chop wood with a saw, now can they? I also included a Lowes carpenter belt, because I thought Wes would look hysterical wearing one. Unfortunately, he refused to model for the blog.

Now I would like to turn it over to Lucy, because she would like to wish y'all a very Merry Christmas -

Ha. Ha. Look at that face! She is so annoyed. We were wrapping presents and Wes decided he was going to wrap Lucy too.

Oranges

Every year my grandfather sends me a box of oranges and grapefruits - freshly picked from the groves of Florida. And every year they are sent to the wrong address. Last year we ended up with THREE boxes of oranges when it was all said and done. Only God knows how many boxes of oranges ended up at my previous addresses. That poor company and my poor Grandfather so much confusion.

Now, let me introduce y'all to my Grandfather. Grandpa Nick is a darling Italian retired NY City Police Officer, who lives in Long Island. His accent is as thick as it comes and he says "forgetabouit" at the end of every sentence.

This is Grandpa Nick.

Every Monday, Grandpa and I have a phone date. This past Monday Grandpa wanted to know if I had received the oranges. I had not. I asked Grandpa where he sent them - he replies "Hold the phone, let me check!" I tell him it's okay, he doesn't need to get up and check, if they go to my old address I can pick them up from Jennifer. We continue on with our conversation and all of sudden he goes "Katie, let me check the address, hold awhile!"

Grandpa gets back on the phone and starts yelling into the phone, "Here we go 1-3..."

Me: "Grandpa, that's the right address. You have -"

Grandpa: "Your birthday, May..."

Me: "Yes, Grandpa that is ri- "

Grandpa: "Your social security number 1-1-...."

Me: "DO WHAT?! Grandpa, um yes, that would be all of my information."

Grandpa: "Yup! Yup! I have it all written down."

Me: "Oh well that is good... let's just hope you lock the doors."

Good news - Oranges and grapefruits arrived yesterday. Some more good news -my identity has yet to be stolen, at least to my knowledge. Eh, forgetabouit.

Deck the Halls

I wanted to share some pictures of the house now that we are officially done decorating.

This is my homemade wreath and bow! I was very excited not only to make my own wreath and bow this year, but I was even more excited over the cost of this little project- $3.11. Oh yes. Look who is being fiscally responsible now Wesley.

The view of our lovely abode from the street. Go Wolfpack!

My mom gave me her snow village and for some reason Jack really loves the snow village people. He enjoys sniffing them - thankfully he hasn't had the urge to eat them. He also loves having his picture taken.

The fireplace and my 98 cent poinsettias - thank you Lowes. Please ignore the fact that Wes's stocking is missing ... Pottery Barn has yet to deliver his monogramed stocking. And no worries because this chick scored free monograming and shipping.

Okay so the Christmas decorations are lacking in the dinning room. BUT, Please notice we have dinning room chairs!!! I love my new Parson Chairs that we scored from Craigslist. They are brand new and what we paid for a set a four, you could buy one from Pottery Barn. I just need to buy some slip covers and we will be set to go.

A Fun Old Fashion Family Christmas

"We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols."

I got the crazy idea that we should head up to the mountains and cut down our Christmas tree. (Maybe I should stop watching Christmas Vacation ...) However, Wes, indulged me, and on Saturday we packed up the truck and headed west. Lucy decided she wanted in as well and being that Wes cannot say no to her, Lucy jumped on in and settled down for our trip to the mountains.

Wes had already researched and looked into possible farms to cut down our perfect Christmas tree. We were headed to the Boone area .... which meant a solid 3 hour car ride .... which meant 3 hours of me singing Christmas songs.

Wes loves my singing. See - Two Thumbs Up. HA. I think the singing lasted a solid 20 minutes before my radio station and voice were silenced.

That is okay, because, Wes then informed me the farm we were going to go to not only had Christmas trees, BUT, there were COWS! YES!

I was all over those cows as soon as we had the car parked. Unfortunately, Lucy did not like the cows. She started barking, howling, and whining at the cows. At which point, Wes, said it is time for us to go and pick out our tree.

Of course in the midst of us searching for "the one" - Lucy and I needed to have a photo shoot.

And then, there it was, our perfect tree.....

Ha! Just kidding! That tree was huge ! ! !

Let's try this again ....

Here it is ! Our perfect Christmas tree. This lovely farm does not allow for you to cut down your own tree, which made me relieved that none of our appendages would be lost during this cutting down tree process.

Down she goes !

All wrapped up and ready to go home. Before heading back to Raleigh, we headed to Boone for a quick lunch, and we were off to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway was gorgeous!

Please take notice of the SNOW! I was very excited to see there was some snow left from earlier in the week.

Wes managed to get our tree in the house and in the stand. I was concerned with capturing every moment of this process. (Naturally Wes was not as concerned - haha.)

Woosh! The twine is cut! Isn't it beautiful?!

And now for your viewing pleasure - Our Christmas Tree!

The Meeting of the Parents

The meeting of the parents is always a unique experience... especially when you come from two different worlds. Let me start by saying I assumed our dinner was going to go down like Meet the Fockers.

My Mom and Step Dad are New Yorkers. My mother hails from Brooklyn - she may have lived in Raleigh for close to 20 years, but she sounds like she never left. And Lord knows anything that comes into her mind comes out of her mouth. No filter, but one of the things I love about her (probably because I am the same way).

Wes's Mom and Step Dad are Southerns. Wes's Mom grew up in Burlington. When people ask me what she is like - I have one answer ... if Paula Deen had a daughter, she would be it. She is sweet, southern, and feisty.

Sooo needless to say if anything the language barrier would be an issue. I'm joking - I'm joking. (sort of...haha) Everything went fabulous.

Honestly, the dinner went really well! Everyone had a wonderful time, there was laughing, talking and hardly any awkward movements that lasted longer then twenty seconds. It was very reassuring to know that after all my fear and hesitation of the anticipated event was completely unnecessary!

What's currently in the hopper and what's come out

Wes's current project:

Pottery Barn Bedside Table

Wes loves it when I take pictures of him when he is working. He was in the process of cutting down a giant piece of oak for the legs ... more pictures to come. (when I can sneak downstairs and take some!)

I have been working on some projects of my own around the house. A couple of weeks ago we went to Burlington for Wes's High School Reunion, and while we were there, we purchased this fabulous dresser. However, the color, it was some kind of gross yellow, and didn't go with our room. So, I redid it!

I forgot to take a picture with the drawers in - oops.

Gross yellow cream paint color.

All beautiful and redone! Doesn't it look pretty? The fun part really came when we started divided up the drawers. It is amazing how ten drawers does not equal five and five. haha. Oh stubborn boys ... its okay because I won. Five drawers each.

"I'm kind of like Costco, I'm big not fancy, but I dare you not to like me"

Wes and I feel like true Americans now - we have a Costco Membership. Wes surprised me with a membership, after I went on and on about how amazing Costco. Let's be honest, where else can you can you purchase 30 pork chops, 18 rolls of toilet paper, tires, and pimento cheese, all while trying delicious samples of food? Exactly. And yes - in my book - romantic points are by far won with a Costco membership. I was ecstatic. So ecstatic that when we went on Saturday (to be true Americans and use our American right to buy lots of nonsense items in bulk) we decided to buy some steaks for dinner. Curious what a Costco steak looks like - please see below:

Everything is bigger and better at Costco! The steak makes my zucchini boats look tiny. Don't worry we didn't each eat one of those puppies - we shared. =)

Sunday morning, Wes was still feeling inspired by Costco, because he made Costco size pancakes, along with bacon and grits. Delicious! I swear, he makes the BEST bacon I have ever eaten - it is perfect every time.

Bad Dog

I have a funny story to share with y'all. Last week, I worked the night shift, so I was sleeping during the day. When I work nights, I typically allow for Jack and Lucy to roam the house to their pleasing, while I am sleeping. I mean they typically sleep, what 89% of the day anyway? Right. Okay, so, as you noticed in the previous post, I have show pumpkins on our dining room table. Well, Monday morning I come home and notice the pumpkins are displaced along the table. I think, well this weird, Wes must have messed with them. (Of course I blame him first.) I fix my pumpkins, and go to sleep. I wake up, go to work, come home, pumpkins messed up again. Hmm.... Wesley what in the world is he doing?! I fix the pumpkins yet again and go to bed. I wake that afternoon, stroll on out to the dining room and what do I see? Jack laying on top of our dining room table, amongst the pumpkins. I couldn't get over what I seeing - he is just laying there like "oh you are up? well no worries, I've just been laying here watching the cars go by." At this point I am laughing so hard I can't speak - let alone yell at him to get off the table. I have NEVER seen a dog laying on top of a dining room table - let alone a 65 lb black lab.

The following evening, I made Wes one of his favorite meals and bought some really nice beer to butter him up when I shared the news. Didn't work so well. He did not laugh when I told him the story. And Jack spent the rest of the evening / night in the office.

But seriously, how can you stay made at this one? Look at his face. Precious.

The final touch

The bench is complete and looks beautiful. I can't get over the amazing job Wes did on building the table and the bench. The pictures do not do it justice. Now, in a previous post, I explained to y'all how the staining and all that nonsense was going to be my responsibility. Ha. Yah right. Of course he didn't let me touch it. Correction, I actually applied the second layer of the polyurethane to the bench. I think it was my amazing polyurethaning skills that make the bench look so amazing. Right.

The finished project ! !

Other views

Jack was following me around while I was snapping the photos and very badly wanted his picture taken. I told him he had to sit and look pretty - I think he did a great job.

Weekend Happenings

This past weekend we headed out of town to Virginia because NC State was playing UVA !

First stop: Richmond

Love Richmond. We went out for dinner, which of course was accompanied by drinks, which of course led to dancing (most likely to blamed on the too many drinks). Needless to say when the alarm went off at 715 the next morning nobody wanted to move. However, Papa Wes rallied the troops with promises of leaving us if we weren't ready to go by 8:30. We needed to be to our next stop by 1000.

Charlottesville! Please note the tailgating supplies we are hauling with us to Charlottesville.

Clearly necessary for a proper tailgate. We couldn't let those UVA fan think we do not know how to throw a proper tailgate party. Please note my show pumpkins. =) And yes Wes, my show pumpkins make the table.

We had a blast at the game! And NC State won ! ! ! UVA has a beautiful campus and stadium - the fans were great.

The next morning we headed up the mountain to Michie's Tavern. One of my patients told me it was absoultely necessary that we eat here. And OH MY GOODNESS - he was so right. Michie's Tavern was established in the 1790's. The tavern serves a buffet similar to what one would have found during that time. Please see my plate below.

Out of control. And yes I ate almost the whole plate. And yes those are layers of food. I couldn't fit everything on my plate. And I finished up my meal by sharing a peach cobbler that is indescribably delicious. I need to stop talking about it ... my mouth is starting to drool.

Our next stop was Carter Mountain - to pick apples ! ! !

Jenn was very excited about picking apples! One item off the bucket list - check. I'm still waiting for my apple pie, btw, JB.

Even Wes joined in on the fun. He says he doesn't like these outings ... but deep down he loves it.

Love-A-Fair

I have been a bad blogger! We have been tailgating and traveling too much the past couple of weekends. Have no fear - I have lots of pictures to share of our adventures.

First up - The NC State Fair.

Let me begin by telling y'all my love of the NC State Fair. I LOVE THE FAIR. Wes does not share the same love nor enthusiasm for the fair as I do. However, this did not stop me for making him go this year. And you know what? Guess who had a great time and said "I could do that again, I mean it wasn't that bad." Oh right - Mr I love the fair Wes. (Okay, so maybe "love" is still too strong of a word.)

We attended the fair with my best friend and fair partner of 4 years - Ms JB and her bf, Alex. I can tell you, we successfully ate our way through the fair. I documented the majority of the food we ate. Please see below:

Giant Turkey Leg - 1 / Wes - 0

Al's french fries - One of Jenn's favorites

You know you're in 4-H when .... you get really excited when you 4 leaf clovers - Loved my days in 4-H!

Our group! We had our picture taken waiting for the pig / duck / goat races.

If Wes was a pumpkin - he would be Bob the Builder Pumpkin. =)

WE LOVE CHEESE ! !

Fried Cheese Balls - Oh my goodness ... words do not/cannot describe the deliciousness wrongness of these treats.

Finishing up our night with deep fried oreos and deep fried pecan pie. We are fat kid / star crossed lovers.